Epcot

On Friday we went to Epcot, because it opened early for people staying in Disney resorts. We got to ride two 'big' rides with barely any wait at all - Soarin' and Test Track. The girls were so adventurous riding both of them! Soarin' is like hang gliding over an Imax screen, very exhilarating. Test Track is a race car ride, and you go 65mph around some corners. Eek!

After the rides, we got in line to meet the characters. We hit the jackpot and saw all of the big ones all in one visit!

Here are the girls with Mickey:


The girls with Pluto:


The whole family with Minnie:


All of the characters signed an autograph book for each kid. We left space in each book to add pictures of each kid/character. It will be so cute! Now I just have to start printing the pictures!

Meeting Donald Duck was sooooo special. Jessica had been talking for WEEKS about how she was going to meet Donald Duck and show him her small Donald Duck stuffed animal. Well, the big moment came, and she did it! She didn't chicken out! He went right up to her and checked out her doll...

...then he took her by the hand over to the picture spot!! It was precious!!

Donald shooed the other girls away so that he could get a picture JUST with Jessica and her Donald stuffed animal.

And he took Katie and Megan's dolls (Goofy and Mickey) and put them on the ground - he wouldn't let them be in the picture! It was hilarious!

The whole family with Goofy:

Goofy wanted a special picture with Katie and her stuffed animal, too.

After meeting all the characters, we rode the Nemo ride, saw all of the cool aquariums (Chris' favorite), and posed inside Bruce's jaws.

Then we set out for the 'countries' side of Epcot.

We enjoyed an amazing lunch at Italy. Yummmmm.....

Amy and girls at the gardens in Canada. (we lost Jess)

Katie and Megan got to meet Pooh and Tigger in Great Britain:

Chris grabbed a Guinness while we were taking pics with Pooh and Tigger. Here he is with the girls in Great Britain:

Chris and the girls at France:

We saw a street show in France, and Amy was selected to be part of the show! Fortunately, all I had to do was sit there and look cute.

Chris was also picked to be a part of the show! He had to help the chef balance before climbing up the chairs. It was so funny to watch!

Here he is, obeying every command.

Next we were on to Morocco. I loved the tile work and mosaics.

Then on to Japan. The girls loved all of the fun candies in the gift shops here.

Sunset over the lake, with the ball in the background.

Outside Italy again:

Girls in Germany:

In front of China, where we had dinner:

Megan was an expert with the modified chopsticks:

Katie the chopstick queen:

Jessi eventually got the hang of it!

After dinner, we saw a Chinese acrobatics show. Amazing!

No pics by Norway, but here we are in Mexico, after the boat ride.

We stayed late at Epcot, to see the fireworks. And instead of leaving with the mad rush right after the fireworks were over, we went back to Test Track for our 3rd set of rides of the day. The girls couldn't get enough of that ride!